First-Year Residents

Nicole Araneta, MD

Home Town: Nicki was born and grew up in Southeast Asia (Manila, Philippines; Hong Kong; Singapore) -- the Bay Area, CA is "home" now

Medical School: Northwestern University - Feinberg School of Medicine

Nicki was born in Manila, Philippines. She flew before she could walk, as her family moved to Singapore when she was 6 months old. Later the Aranetas lived in Hong Kong before returning to Manila when Nicki was 10. Her next move was to the Bay Area (Yay! Area), CA for college where Nicki majored in English Literature and met Rob, her person. Like many recent grads who don't yet know what they want to do, she worked as a consultant before realizing/deciding that she wanted to be a physician. Nicki and Rob embarked on a long-distance relationship adventure when she went to Northwestern University in Chicago for medical school. While there she fostered her childhood interest in creative writing through the Medical Writers Roundtable. Nicki was also involved with the Medical Spanish Interest Group, the Oncology Interest Group, and in coordinating the Chinatown Free Clinic. Nicki and Rob took long-distance to the international level when she spent a year as a medical volunteer and health advocate in the highlands of Guatemala. They're both excited to be in Tacoma, WA where Nicki can learn and practice full-spectrum family medicine with TFM. In the lovely Pacific Northwest Rob plans on spending more time outdoors, and on listening patiently when Nicki plays Latin-American news podcasts to maintain her Spanish. Together Nicki and Rob enjoy skiing, reading poetry, napping, and long walks on the beach (no, really, they proposed to each other after a long walk on the beach).

Jessica DiBari, DO

Home Town: Walnut Creek, California

Medical School: Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences

Jessica was born in Walnut Creek, California and lived there until she was in high school when she moved to Selah, Washington. She attended Western Washington University where she slaved away in the biochemistry lab trying to elucidate the mysteries of protein folding. Upon completion of her Bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, she decided to take some time off to travel, ski and try her hand at waiting tables and tending bar. Clumsy though she was, she enjoyed the fast pace of restaurant work but decided to return to science by pursuing a Master’s degree in Chemistry at Portland State University. Realizing that the perfect blend of human interaction and scientific understanding lies in medicine, she then went to medical school at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences. She loves to try to figure out how to flush foreign toilets and will eat just about anything. She speaks Spanish and has volunteered with medical groups in Ecuador and Guatemala. Her interests include skiing, hiking, reading and falling asleep on the couch while watching Law and Order Criminal Intent with her husband.

Anna McLuen, MD

Home Town: Renton, Washington

Medical School: University of Washington

Anna grew up in South Seattle and Renton, spending her time playing soccer, basketball, and softball in high school. She decided to go to Willamette University in Salem, OR to keep playing basketball at the collegiate level, where she spent time also volunteering in the ER and at the Humane Society. She studied biochemistry and English literature, and is obsessed with James Joyce’s Ulysses. She had known since she was little that she wanted to be a doctor, but in college learned about the Peace Corps, and decided to take time off between undergrad and medical school to become a volunteer. She was sent to the hills of the Dominican Republic, where she built her own bathroom, fell in love with the rolling hills outside her house, and found a new family. Not surprisingly, she ended up extending her service and staying longer. When she got back from the Peace Corps she tried to volunteer at Sea Mar CHC to keep up her Spanish skills and got asked to be a doula for AmeriCorps for a year, so she spent the next year helping support and educate women throughout the pregnancy and the child birthing process. During this time she applied and got into medical school at the University of Washington. She did her first year in Pullman, WA as part of the WWAMI program. She thrives on the relationships she forms with her patients, and knew from the beginning that family medicine was the only way to go. She loves Tacoma Family Medicine for their focus not only on the physical health of their patients but the social aspects of health as well. In her free time she loves bothering her three Dominican cats, painting, reading, yoga, and cooking. She can make you world famous fajitas and flat delicious cookies, and she will talk your ear off about James Joyce while drinking Malbec if you let her.

Bela Mohapatra, MD

Home Town: Boulder, Colorado

Medical School: University of Colorado

One of Bela’s happiest memories is growing up in University Family Housing in Boulder, Colorado, where Bela’s mother studied computer science. As a child, Bela loved dance Bharatnatyam (Indian classical) and math. Bela chose the University of Colorado for college so she could stay near her mother and her sister. There, Bela’s experiences in gender violence prevention, sexual health education, and a summer camp for kids with cancer inspired her to shave off her long locks and apply to medical school. At the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Bela was a member of the Urban Underserved Track. She helped start a Community Based Participatory Research project on perceived racial discrimination in health care. For this project she worked collaboratively with a group of Denver/Aurora community members of color to document people’s stories and develop action plans to reduce the effects of discrimination. Bela also met her husband and co-intern Stephen in medical school. She has introduced Stephen to new dance moves and trained him to eat spicier food. Stephen has introduced Bela to cycling and trained her to climb tall mountains. When it came time to choose a residency program, Bela was so impressed with the learning opportunities and people at TFM and the dedication to the underserved that she decided to leave behind the home she loves in Colorado for her residency training. Bela is extremely grateful for the excellent training opportunities in Tacoma and supportive co-residents and faculty.

Kassie Tricola, MD

Home Town: Othello, Washington

Medical School: University of Washington

Kassie was born and raised in Othello, Washington, a small and quaint farming community in Eastern Washington. She attended college at Washington State University, where she studied Basic Medical Sciences and Psychology. Kassie’s passion for helping others led her to University of Washington School of Medicine, known for its outstanding training in primary care. Attracted to rural practice in Family Medicine early on in medical school, Kassie became part of the WWAMI program. As part of this regional program, she was privileged to get a glimpse of the practice of medicine throughout Washington state, and in Alaska, Idaho and Montana. Kassie knew TFM was the right location for her residency training after seeing firsthand during her subinternship how the program lives up to its mission, educating doctors in full spectrum family medicine to be equipped to care for underserved communities. Kassie is married to Matt, who brings fun, adventure, and balance to her busy schedule. She enjoys getting outside, playing tennis, running, walk-and-talks, and being on the water with friends and family.

Stephanie Wheeler, MD

Home Town: Santa Cruz, California

Medical School: Georgetown University

Originally from the California coast, Stephanie is well known for her love all things sunshine and ocean. As a strong advocate for the everyday need for sunshine and the nutritional value of vitamin D, and her inaccurate belief that she is in fact cold blooded, she may be found eating lunch or taking a much needed break on a rooftop, or perhaps in the beautiful Wright Park. An avid lover of all things Latin American, she is known to “bump” music genres such as Reggaeton, Cumbia, Bachata and the amazing rock artist known as Maná. Her one goal in life is to practice rural medicine, preferably in a Latin country, or on an island (or an island in a Latin country?) where shoes are often not worn, and in fact recommended against. She is well known for her loud presence, including an extensive collection of bohemian style long skirts, a laugh that can carry throughout the hospital, and endless supply of dry humor. Stephanie has held a plethora of different jobs, including waitress, telemarketer, bartender, special needs nanny, and most notably AmeriCorps member in San Francisco. She believes firmly that the empowerment of communities is the key to excellent primary care, and chose Tacoma Family Medicine for their dedication to the Tacoma urban and rural community, amazing faculty, and overall sweet vibe. Stephanie worked very hard to both get to, and through, medical school and therefore cherishes every opportunity to learn and work with patients. Her skill repertoire includes uncanny ability to find awesome free opportunities, lose things in all places of the hospital, and locking herself out of her car.

Stephen Wills, MD

Home Town: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Medical School: University of Colorado

Stephen spent much of his early years exploring the mountains of Colorado by foot, bike, and ski. When he wasn’t on outdoor adventures, Stephen experimented with a paintbrush and a trumpet. For college, Stephen’s athletic and artistic leanings and his sense of adventure led him to Williams College in Massachusetts. Stephen competed for the Purple Cows in cross-country and track. When Stephen was a sophomore in college, his father was paralyzed in a ski accident. Stephen stayed with his father through his early hospital recovery. Less than 6 months later, he watched his dad hand-cycle over 100 miles in one day through the Colorado Rockies. Inspired by his father’s ability to take on new challenges, Stephen chose to study abroad in Mongolia and work in Malawi as an Education Peace Corps Volunteer. Ultimately, it was Stephen’s experiences with his father’s spinal cord injury and his work in Mongolia and Malawi that encouraged him to pursue a career in medicine. Stephen returned to Colorado for medical school. There, the Purple Cow fell in love with the Colorado University Buffalo and fellow med-student Bela. Stephen and Bela bonded over their interest in underserved family medicine and decided to couples match into the same specialty. Stephen’s affinity for outdoor recreation and underserved medicine attracted him to TFM. He looks forward to training at a program with outstanding broad spectrum training opportunities and exceptionally supportive co-residents and attendings.

Ashley Yoder, MD

Home Town: Gig Harbor, Washington

Medical School: University of Oklahoma

Ashley was born in Tacoma, Washington, but grew up across the Narrows Bridge in Gig Harbor. She attended Peninsula High School, playing soccer, basketball and running long distance in track. For undergraduate school Ashley went to Central Washington University where she majored in Biology and was president of the Pre-Med club. During the 2008-2009 years she volunteered at the local hospital and clinics in E-burg. She graduated in 2009 with honors and began applying to medical schools. While planning her wedding, she worked as a cashier for Fred Meyer in Ellensburg and Port Orchard. Following their marriage in 2010, she and her husband moved to Oklahoma City to begin medical education at the University Of Oklahoma College Of Medicine. While in medical school Ashley traveled to Peru and Nicaragua, working in hospitals and clinics in those countries. While attending OU she became president of the AAFP student chapter Family Medicine interest group. Matching at Tacoma Family Medicine was a dream come true for Ashley and her husband, as it meant that they would be able to come home to family and friends. After her time at Tacoma Family Medicine, Ashley would love to work in a small family practice in a rural community around the South Puget Sound. Ashley loves to spend her free time hiking with her husband, exploring new restaurants, spending quality time with her two cats, knitting, sewing, kayaking, gardening and antiquing.

Second-Year Residents

Ashley Bieker, MD

Home Town: Gig Harbor, Washington

Medical School: University of Washington, Seattle

Ashley Bieker (née Schulze) was born an extrovert at Tacoma General and has come full circle by returning as a resident. She grew up bicycling the backwoods of Gig Harbor, raised by a family doc and an anatomy teacher. Her interests included volleyball, the Spanish language, saving the environment, and peanut butter. She began exploring the wider world with a trek to the dorms of the University of Washington in Seattle, eventually majoring in Spanish. This included a year of “study” abroad in Spain where she lived with a host family and made lifelong Andalusian friends who loved dancing until 7 AM and sun-bathing as much as possible. After college she worked as an AmeriCorps volunteer teaching diabetes classes in a Spanish-speaking community health center. She was also a nanny (i.e. snack supervisor and fort-master extraordinaire) for twin three-year old boys before starting medical school at the UW. As a med student she spent two months in Nicaragua and left another piece of her heart in the land of guardabarrancos and gallo pinto. She is fortunate to have married her husband, John, who singlehandedly maintains the household with his culinary prowess and patience with her in general. They are the proud parents of a diabetic cat, Romeo, who is generally non-compliant with her recommendations for weight management via exercise unless it includes a catnip toy or swatting her face at 4am. Aside from being a resident, Ashley’s hobbies include sustaining the neighborhood hummingbird population with her backyard feeder, learning to play the accordion, maintaining a garden of potted plants, and dreaming of getting back into Zumba and yoga. She enjoys a good pun, belting out Latin music lyrics in the car, bubblegum ice cream, the color coral, and tall socks.

Maurine Cobabe, MD

Home Town: Tokyo, Japan

Medical School: CCLCM of CWRU

Maurine was born in Chicago, Illinois, but grew up in Niigata, Japan (the “Japan Alps,” which are nothing like the real Alps). She returned to the United States for college, attending Brigham Young University, where she studied biochemistry, Japanese and ballroom dance. She narrowly avoided an ill-fated career in dance teaching, and instead attended the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, a five-year medical school with a heavy research emphasis. There she spent summers, spare time, and her extra research year studying behavioral determinants of health. Her research topics included a systematic review on the efficacy of patient activation interventions in diabetes (now published in JGIM), and the effects of sleep deprivation on epilepsy, for which she was awarded the Epilepsy Foundation Health Sciences Student Fellowship. She met a great mentor there who showed her how exciting the variety and the continuity relationships in Family Medicine can be. Upon graduation, she finally, happily joined her husband, an Army Linguist, in Tacoma. She plans to practice throughout the country (and maybe the world) until he retires and then settle down in the rural western US to practice full spectrum family medicine. Together, Maurine and her husband enjoy running, canoeing, rock climbing, motorcycling, and volunteering with their church. She has not yet convinced him to dance in public.

Kelly DeMeyer-Coursey, MD

Home Town: Clarkston, Washington

Medical School: Creighton University

Heads over tails. The luckiest number is 8, and the best color is blue. Tuesday is the worst day of the week, and Friday is the ultimate. Waffles beat pancakes. Mayonnaise is better than Miracle Whip (and certainly better than no spread at all, ew). Infectious disease is fascinating, and kidney pathology not quite as much. Pajama pants are a must. Toblerone, yes please. Rock n' roll > Country. Gravity always wins. Kelly D-Coursey has been colorfully labeled as "loud" and "overly enthusiastic," but she is also known for her generous spirit, well-timed words of wisdom, and delicious brownies. In her former life she delivered pizza while also taking x-rays on the weekends with her rad tech degree. She spent her free time attending rehearsal for a dinner theater troupe, which performed at her local country club up to four times a year. A fan of the kitchen, Kelly has often said that if she didn’t go into medicine, she would have attended culinary school. Wife and dog mom. Harpist and music lover. Collector of dragons. Improvisational theater enthusiast. Gamer. How did family medicine become the career path? Because family medicine is for everyone!

Erin Hunt, MD

Home Town: Portland, Oregon

Medical School: Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, Chicago

Erin hails from Portland, Oregon, and was raised in a time before the Pearl District existed. She graduated from Seattle University in 2004 after majoring in abstract mathematics with an undeclared minor in music. After completing three years of post-baccalaureate work at Portland State University, she headed off to the Midwest to attend Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, located in Chicago, IL. Her medical school class was so important a road was even named after it. Erin has had a multitude of work experiences including working as a barista, an administrator in a law firm and at a Lutheran Church, a private tutor in mathematics, a hired cellist for art openings and events, a lab instructor for organic and general chemistry, a faculty member at Mount Hood Community College where she helped design a class for making biodiesel, an au pair for a 7 year old on the French Riviera, and a scribe in the emergency department. Her most recent hobby is developing 35mm camera film in her garage. She enjoys exploring industrial areas and nature (they provide good photo opportunities), target practice with her recurve bow , non-competitive double dutch, commuting on bikes, Haruki Murakami, picking berries, grilling dinner (even when the weather makes it difficult), trying to fish, and playing music. In Chicago she played cello in a band called Horse King. In Tacoma she plays cello, guitars, bass, drums, and synthesizers in various combinations with her husband. When she finds a little free time she plans to volunteer at the community bike shop. Erin is married to a creative and supportive gentleman. They have a small orange cat named Bucket and plan to adopt an enormous wolf dog when they have more space and time.

Ravi Kalwani, MD

Home Town: Warminster, Pennsylvania

Medical School: University of Washington

Ravi hails from suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He grew up as part of a large extended family that spans the entire east coast. As a student at Boston College, he discovered and nourished a passion for working with underserved populations. He did so by volunteering in varying capacities in Boston, rural Appalachia, the US/Mexican border, and India. Ravi also became very active in social activist groups while at Boston College. After graduating, he worked in public health for 2 years—specifically doing research on children’s health and nutrition, and how it related to public assistance programs. He went on to do a post-bacc program in Philadelphia to go to medical school. He was excited to go to the University of Washington, specifically because of his interest in family medicine. While in Seattle he continued his zest for working in underserved communities. Outside of work he is an avid Philadelphia sports fan, enjoys listening to This American Life, David Sedaris, Bill Murray, and the Muppets. He plays racquetball and tennis, watches stand up comedy, spends time with family and friends, and plans extravagant Thanksgiving-related competitions. He is currently engaged to a wonderful woman who also is a Tacoma native; she is a social worker and soccer aficionado.

Erin Locke, MD

Home Town: WaKeeney, Kansas

Medical School: University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita

Erin was raised in the small, rural town of WaKeeney on the windy plains of Western Kansas. She spent her growing up years with her nose in a book. She later discovered a small talent for distance running, which won her a few state championships and a place on the Cross-Country and Track team at the University of Notre Dame. Her undergrad education was focused on social justice and ethics, and she spent her summers working in an academic camp for underserved children in Kansas City, Missouri. She then completed a combined MD/MPH program at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, graduating at the top of her class. Her research on provider retention in underserved areas took her to Washington, D.C., where she presented at a national conference and lobbied on Capitol Hill. Erin was heavily involved in the Family Medicine Interest Group, the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians, and JayDoc (a clinic run by students for the underserved). She won the National Rural Health Association’s Student Leadership Award in 2013. She now serves as a resident co-trustee to the Washington Academy of Family Physicians. Her hobbies include photography, reading, and hiking. She loves to travel, and her favorite trip was on safari in Tanzania. While at home she spends the majority of her time catering to the whims of Harley and Jasper, her two fat and very spoiled cats.

Rebecca Mandell, MD

Home Town: Bellevue, Washington

Medical School: University of Washington

Rebecca loves meeting interesting people and hearing their stories, which meant that medicine — specifically family medicine — was a natural fit. As for her story, she grew up in the Seattle area, where early on she learned to relish the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest. She attended Brown University, where she studied English and Human Biology. She spent a semester studying wildlife ecology in Tanzania, and took a semester to travel independently through Central and South America, both formative experiences that further cultivated her curiosity about people and cultures. After college, Rebecca took a circuitous route — from leading a service program in Costa Rica to managing volunteers at a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, before landing at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, where she managed a global health research project focused on measuring health in resource poor countries. She realized that she wanted to gain the skills to affect change on a more direct service level, which led her to the University Of Washington School Of Medicine. While there, she had the good fortune to complete a longitudinal family medicine rotation (WRITE) at a CHC in Helena, Montana, with a focus on advocacy and underserved populations. Tacoma Family Medicine was an easy choice for her, with the draw of an unparalleled OB experience, fantastic inpatient medicine and pediatrics, and a strong service focus. When not at the hospital or clinic, Rebecca can be found long-distance running along the Tacoma waterfront, biking around Point Defiance Park, hiking in the Cascade or Olympic mountains, visiting her adorable baby nephew in Seattle, or hanging around with her husband, Blair, and their beloved dog, Ginger.

Anna Maria Pletz, MD

Home Town: Seattle, Washington

Medical School: University of Washington

Why Tacoma? TFM topped my list for a myriad of reasons! The program itself offers excellent broad-spectrum training, including a phenomenal education in obstetrics and pediatrics that is often difficult to come by in Family Medicine residency. The people here — the residents, fellows, faculty, nurses, other staff — are supportive, respectful, fun, constantly seeking to do the best by patients in every circumstance, with a down-to-earth and proactive approach that inspires me daily. TFM continues to live out its multi-generational legacy of producing: well-rounded, compassionate family physicians who can work anywhere, from urban inner-city to rural countryside, resource-rich or –poor; as well as leaders active in health care policy and education. In addition, Tacoma itself is a hidden gem, humbly nestled in the midst of spectacular mountains and seaside and so offering immediate access to the best of the NW outdoors, while also demonstrating a culture of warmth and community engagement.

We would love to meet you!

Third-Year Residents

Erica Barrows-Nees, MD

Home Town: Evanston, Wyoming

Medical School:University of Washington

Erica grew up in a small town in Wyoming, but also spent her growing-up years traveling and learning obscure languages in mountainous, land-locked countries. She feels that this cross-cultural viewpoint helps her better understand her colleagues while she works as one of the co-chief residents. When not caring for patients in the hospital, Erica enjoys spending time with plants, both native and cultivated (she has a plant science degree from the University of Idaho, after all.) She and her husband can also be found at the dog parks of Tacoma with their golden-doodle (Otto the dog), riding their bikes around town, on a hike, or enjoying gourmet hot dogs and microbrews together in one of Tacoma’s finest restaurants. Although Erica spent most of her medical training years in Washington, she hopes that the sagebrush-filled plains of Wyoming will take her back to practice full-spectrum family medicine when she finishes her training at Tacoma Family Medicine.

William Bowen, MD

Home Town: Chappaqua, New York

Medical School: University of Rochester

Why Tacoma? I came to TFM because the culture of family medicine is so strong here and everybody truly believes in the good they are doing on a daily basis. Graduates seem prepared to go anywhere and plug into any type of practice. The residents are very intelligent and work really hard, but are also genuinely nice, down to earth, and fun. I am having a blast learning as a new doctor, exploring the city of Tacoma and the natural beauty of the Pacific NW, and meeting so many wonderful new people.

Megan Bright, MD

Home Town: Waukesha, Wisconsin

Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin

Prior to becoming a family medicine resident, Megan held a lot of different jobs. Her first job was babysitting, which is when she learned how much she enjoys children. She was initially torn between basic science and medicine in college, and worked as a research assistant for a few years before deciding that people were much more captivating than cell cultures and lab rats. After starting medical school, Megan was instantly drawn to primary care and the potential to influence health through prevention and counseling patients about the importance of diet and exercise. Her love of fresh, healthy, locally produced food comes from years of working at modern gourmet restaurant in Milwaukee. Megan first learned about Tacoma Family Medicine by talking with Dr. Watrin at the AAFP National Conference in Kansas City. She was so excited to find a full-scope program that was strong in OB and pediatrics training. Now that she’s been here for a couple of years, she is so happy with her choice. She couldn’t imagine a better place to train. Megan moved to Tacoma with her fiance, Jeremy, their two dogs, Eggroll and Butters, and their evil cat, Luna. Living in Tacoma has also provided them the unique experience of being urban chicken farmers, and their 3 backyard chickens provide the most delicious eggs for breakfast. Megan and Jeremy loved exploring the waterfronts, hiking trails and farmer’s markets of Washington in their free time.

Adrienne Cygnar

Home Town: New Brighton, Minnesota

Medical School: University of Minnesota Medical School

Annie Cygnar is, first and foremost, not Lindsay Newlon, despite repeated inquiries by clinic nurses, hospital nurses, and our specialist colleagues alike. She was born in mid-July and is subsequently a Cancer; a lamentable label for a physician. She hails from the great state of Minnesota, which is consistently ranked one of the healthiest and most active states in the nation, and continued progress toward that end guided both her undergraduate and medical education at the University of MN. Her degrees in biology and Spanish left her lista para servir a diverse patient population which is readily available in clinic and hospital here at Tacoma Family Medicine. In a past life she taught Zoology - diving inside fistulated cows, mincing myriad lab specimens, and pontificating about parasites - and the dissemination of information is her favorite part of primary care. Her hobbies include baking muffins (best eaten in triplicate), jogging with friends and Panda the Border Collie, riding her unicycle - if only to prompt the bewilderment of Dr. Landy, and watching Dexter with loud and overly enthusiastic company. Situated 1,600 miles from her roots, her colleagues have become a firm and lasting support network, and friend does not begin to describe the relationships that have formed here at TFM. Putting the family in family medicine makes her smile.

Kayla Luhrs, MD

Home Town: Ketchikan, Alaska

Medical School: University of Washington

Kayla grew up on a small island off the Southeast coast of Alaska frolicking through the forest and catching salmon with her bare hands. Kayla picked up a B.S. in Zoology and Physiology from the University of Wyoming and then an M.D. from the University of Washington. She spent her first year of medical school at the Alaska site and participated in the Rural Integrated Training Experience, spending a significant amount of her third year in Port Angeles, Washington, where she truly fell in love with rural medicine. Ten weeks of her fourth year of medical school were spent doing a sub-internship on the wards of Lacor Hospital in Uganda, which shaped her interest in both social and global medicine. During residency Kayla has continued to island hop, going back to Alaska for her “rural” month, and to the big island of Hawaii to volunteer as an “Iron Doc” in the medical tent of the World Championship Ironman Triathlon. In her spare time, Kayla does indeed enjoy the outdoors in the form of mountain biking, backpacking, rock climbing, skiing, or sitting on a park bench reading poetry and peer reviewed journals. She has really connected with the vibrant community of Tacoma frequenting “The Grand” movie theater, rejuvenating at Source Yoga, dancing with her amateur salsa team, perusing the library, and cooking tasty meals with ingredients from the Co-op. Upon graduation, however, she plans to return to Alaska to practice full-spectrum family medicine. She has really enjoyed training and growing under the tutelage of an incredibly supportive faculty as well as with her awesome co-residents.

DeeAnna Maughan, MD

Home Town: Tulalip, Washington

Medical School: University of Washington, School of Medicine

DeeAnna was raised on the Tulalip Indian Reservation before heading off to Reed College in Portland, Oregon, to study psychology. She then completed her medical degree at the University of Washington. One of her major goals in life has been to have interesting jobs and to travel - and even better if she can do both at the same time! To that end, she has canned fish in a salmon cannery in SW Alaska, taught neuroscience to high school students at an educational summer camp at Yale, been a lab rat at both UCSF and OHSU (mostly in behavioral neuroscience research), and has been an in-home caregiver for the elderly. But her best job yet? Being a family medicine doctor! At TFM DeeAnna is actively involved in the Graduation Committee and volunteers at the Neighborhood Clinic, which is a clinic dedicated to the underserved. When she is not working hard she spends her time cooking and baking, travelling - usually alternating between tropical warm places and the cold snowy north, hiking, biking, and taking long walks to nowhere. Her other talents include a gifted ability to speak French; well, at least some French. She lives with her husband Patrick and their two kitties Caliban and Chimera.

Lindsay Newlon, MD

Home Town: Bainbridge Island, Washington

Medical School: New York Medical College

Lindsay grew up on Bainbridge Island enjoying relatively-small town life, back when there was only one stop-light and one police officer. She spent time having fun on the beach, riding bikes, and playing the flute (but never going to band camp), soccer, and lacrosse. She decided to leave home for college, and traveled across the country to Vermont where she was thoroughly indoctrinated with socialist ideals and ate plenty of winter squash. Wanting some escape, Lindsay took time off on multiple occasions during college to travel to Southeast Asia, where she taught kindergartners how to play the recorder, worked rehabilitating land mine victims with new prosthetics, and relocated an HIV clinic within a hospital. After a couple years off doing research with mice, Lindsay went to medical school at New York Medical College. In addition to medicine, she learned how to honk her horn while driving and became the proud mom of Gambit, a now 60lb loveable and adorable mutt. Lindsay decided to return to the beautiful Pacific Northwest for residency at TFM after too much time away - a decision she is still thrilled about. She loves the patient diversity in clinic, enthusiastic and compassionate faculty, and camaraderie among the residents. She spends her time outside of residency hiking and walking with her dog, rock climbing, kayaking, watching the Sounders, gardening, and enjoying delicious food. She hopes to practice in a small town in the Cascades or Olympics with full-scope family medicine including OB in the not-so-distant future.

Kate Wertin, MD

Home Town: Lakewood, Colorado

Medical School: University of Washington

Kate is thrilled to be training at Tacoma Family Medicine, returning to the great "City of Destiny" exactly 10 years after moving out west after completing college in Omaha, Nebraska. In the decade between undergrad and residency she worked at nonprofit agencies that served folks marginalized to the edge- a daytime drop-in center for the homeless, transitional housing for homeless men, and a community dialysis center. These experiences helped her super-super introverted self blossom into someone who is now just fairly introverted. Along the way she picked up the ability to cook for 200 with government issued canned chicken and to place an IV using large (think 14G) needles. She sought out TFM for its mission to work with urban and rural underserved, as well as the excellent OB and Peds education offered by the program. Kate has personal interests in reproductive health, harm reduction, and LGBT health, and she is excited to have more elective time this year to devote to these. Outside of work she enjoys road biking, staring at the Pacific ocean, sampling Washington's famous microbrews, and trying to tame the wilds of her entirely too large vegetable garden.